LIV GOLF ADELAIDE

February 15, 2026

Anthony Kim

The Grange

4Aces GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome to the media center, 4Aces GC player and LIV Golf Adelaide 2026 individual champion, Anthony Kim.

Anthony, what was the first moment out there today where you thought, okay, this could really happen?

ANTHONY KIM: I'm not really sure when that was. I felt like I didn't putt well the first three days, but when I started seeing the lines on the green, I just said, give yourself as many chances as possible and you can win this thing.

Obviously Bryson and Jon didn't have their best today, but regardless, I putted great. My caddie and I worked so well out there. I heard my wife shouting, even when it was going bananas out there.

All those little things, including I don't want to forget the support I've had from the crowd here in Australia has been second to none.

I'm very overwhelmed with this feeling right now, but my plan is to keep getting better and start winning some more trophies.

Q. Do you have a sense of just how inspirational your story has become?

ANTHONY KIM: Well, I know the mainstream media is not going to pick it up, but for the people that do hear about it, I want to be a good example. I would say that I wasn't the best person, the best partner, the best whatever you want to call it, the best son I could be when I was younger. But who I am today is a completely different person.

With God, my family, my sobriety being the key things to my life, I can go as far as I want.

Q. You mentioned your family; obviously your daughter is a huge part of your life. When Bella is old enough maybe to understand what you're achieving, how emotional may that conversation be, or do you think she's starting to already pick up on it?

ANTHONY KIM: She definitely is picking up on it. I think she just wants me to make as much money as possible so she can have a good life.

Q. Your message has always been about getting 1 percent better. That stretch down the back nine, those fist pumps, is there any sense that maybe those were years in the making?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah. I'm too old to be reacting like that because I think I pulled something in my hip. (Laughter.)

But I will say that that was all the lows that I went through in my life that I got to dig out of. Every putt that went in, I felt the struggle, and I was overcoming it. It was therapeutic out there to fight through it and come out on top.

Q. I think you underestimate how important that was to golf in general, when you said that the mainstream media won't pick it up, but when you eventually log into social media, you'll see that absolutely everyone was rooting for you, so well done, mate. Two-part question: First is your daughter. At some stage you're going to sit her down and tell her it was 5,795 days since you won your last tournament to today, 16 years since you won the Houston Open. She's going to ask what happened in between that time. What are you going to tell her? Is it just the downs and how you can fight through it? What lesson do you want her to learn out of what you went through and how you got to here?

ANTHONY KIM: I'm going to try to leave a lot of details out. But I will tell her that before she came into this world that I didn't feel any purpose in my life. Whether you have a lot of money, whether you have a lot of success in your life, you still can feel lonely and feel like the world is against you, and that's in your own mind because I had a lot of people rooting for me. Obviously you saw out there how many people were rooting for me.

But I just want her to know that no matter how bad your day is, if you keep fighting, you never lose.

Hopefully she takes that with her for the rest of her life.

Q. The second golf part, and it's a bit cheeky, I don't know if it's been thrown around yet, but I believe tomorrow there will be headlines saying "Aussie Anthony" or "Aussie AK" or whatever we want to claim you as. We've got an Australian Open that has a Masters exemption at the end of the year. Is that something you might come back for?

ANTHONY KIM: If I can get a visa.

Q. I thought you've got it now.

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, no, I've got one now. So yeah, we'll see what happens.

Golf is very important to me. It's obviously my focus right now. But at the same time, I want to do what's best for my family. I want to take my time and enjoy these moments. That's why I was out there on the green with my daughter and my wife, because I didn't do this by myself.

There's people very important in my life that have helped me get here and have supported me, and without anything in return. This is for all of them. I want to enjoy the moment, but also, I'll be back on the grind soon.

Q. I wanted to ask you, how important to you was it to play alongside the two leaders today and actually be able to look them in the eye as you played, rather than the relative anonymity of a second to last group, say?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, I mean, obviously Bryson and Jon have proven themselves as major championship caliber winners, Ryder Cup players, and have consistently played well for a long time, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle today, and I got putts to go my way.

But obviously Bryson got off to a bad start and really just kind of was hanging in there. But Jon was playing halfway decent at first.

When I got close, I felt it was very important for me to be seeing what he was doing, even though my focus needed to be on my game. I liked to know where I was compared to the other leaders.

Q. What will a celebration look like for you? As we know, 16 years and a lot has happened. How will you celebrate?

ANTHONY KIM: I might actually watch the movie "Frozen." I don't know, man. I didn't plan this far. I planned to be contending to win golf tournaments, but I haven't gotten this far.

But I'm going to enjoy my time here in Australia. We're going to be here for two more days and we're going to go see the kangaroos and the koalas, maybe some giraffes. So that's my fun.

Q. You took us all on an emotional roller coaster today. Let's put the golf aside for a second. I just want to know as a family man myself, what did it feel like to have your wife and your daughter come up and give you the hug when you got the win, and what were the feelings going through your mind?

ANTHONY KIM: I actually saw a clip of y'all's podcast. I don't know which one it was, but one of y'all said that I was going to make it, so I appreciate that.

Q. We truly do believe in you, mate.

ANTHONY KIM: I appreciate it. Best moment of my life so far.

Obviously when Bella was born, Emily and my life changed. But to be able to share this moment, even though Bella won't understand it, one day she will, and for her to be able to run on the green and see her dad isn't a loser was one of the most special moments of my life.

Q. You're not a loser, and we're truly proud of you, mate. Well done.

ANTHONY KIM: Thanks.

Q. You said on Thursday, you shot 5-under on Thursday and we asked were you sort of able to channel that 20-something young bloke, and you said you didn't want to have much to do with that 20-something and you've moved on. But that 20-something young bloke was pretty good at golf, and you've played a cracking round today. How much can you channel that young bloke and continue to produce rounds like that because you seemed to be walking on air and had great momentum and made putt after putt after putt. Can you continue to channel that now?

ANTHONY KIM: I know I can make a lot of birdies. I know my self-belief is second to none. Obviously taking 12 and a half years off the game is a long time, and you have to build that confidence back.

So I guess from when I was in my 20s, I was never scared to play anybody. I'm not scared to play anybody now. I know this is just one golf tournament, but I believe in myself. That will never change.

Q. Do you have any idea of where you sit on the Official World Golf Rankings? I think you've earned about 23 points today. Do you know if you're qualified for anything?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, I don't want to get into that.

Q. We had Bryson and Jon Rahm in here last night, and they were both describing you as an inspiration, not so much for what you're doing on the golf course but the journey that you've been on. Do you hope to inspire outside people who may be struggling, and what lessons do you hope they could learn off you?

ANTHONY KIM: 1000 percent. 1000 percent. I want to inspire people.

I told my wife this: The only way I get to reach the amount of people I want to reach is by winning. I can talk about my struggles all I want, but if I don't have the platform, then I won't reach as many people.

When I was in rehab, that was my goal. I said, if I got out of here, I'd like to help people, and golf wasn't in the picture. So to be able to have this platform, to have HE and LIV welcome me with open arms has been tremendous in my growth and my self-belief that other people believe in me. So absolutely. My goal is to inspire the people that are struggling because I feel like the world needs more of that today.

Q. Is there another overarching message that you'd give to people battling it a bit?

ANTHONY KIM: Don't fucking quit. That's it. Don't fucking quit.

Q. I remember chatting to you a couple years ago when you came here to play in Adelaide in the very early stages of your comeback. Can you give us an insight into your initial conversations with Greg and how that came about to come back to professional golf with LIV?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, Greg and I had a conversation. He asked me if I thought I could do it, how committed I was. Obviously I was terrible, but I still had that self-belief that I could get to the top, that I could win golf tournaments, and he said, I believe in you, too.

So I appreciate the opportunity I've gotten here at LIV, and I'm going to just keep getting better.

Q. Deep down, the guy who finished third in the Masters, won PGA TOUR events, was No. 6 in the world, do you think you can get back to that level at some stage? I know there's a long way to go, but do you think you can get there?

ANTHONY KIM: Nothing is holding me back. Nothing is holding me back. I just have to keep working. The 1 percent better every day thing is a mindset that I'm going to carry with me until the day I die. I don't see why I can't make it to the top again.